LETTERS, Feb. 10: Unified opposition needed to stop drilling

EDITOR: This week, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said that the Russians are poised to hack the midterm elections again in November, but the Trump administration is doing nothing to stop them.

On Wednesday, the Department of Homeland security confirmed that Russia successfully penetrated voter systems in a number of states during the 2016 presidential election, but President Trump remains in denial because he believes that acknowledging this would call into question the legitimacy of his election.

Last October, with a vote of 517-5, the U.S. House and Senate passed broad penalties and sanctions against Russia for attacking our elections, but President Trump, responding to protestations from the Kremlin, refused to implement the sanctions.

Russia gets away with attacking the sovereignty of the United States, and as far as President Trump is concerned, they are free to do so. Trump never crosses Vladimir Putin.

Kenny Shoulars, Wilmington

Stand up for coast

EDITOR: The Trump administration has proposed to expand offshore drilling into most waters off the U.S. coast, including North Carolina. This is shortsighted and endangers coastal ecosystems and economies. It is unrealistic to assume that leaks and spills of crude oil will never happen; look at the history of offshore oil production.

Meanwhile, 32 communities in North Carolina have passed resolutions opposing offshore drilling and airgun blasting. The federal government is holding hearings on the plan, but on a very limited basis, ignoring the coastal communities. The only scheduled public hearing is in Raleigh.

We’ve learned that Florida received an exemption from drilling because of unanimous opposition by public officials. By supporting offshore drilling, U.S. Rep. David Rouzer is out of step with his constituents.

We need to make our voices heard in Raleigh on Feb. 26. Information about the hearing can be found at tinyurl.com/ybtnf5s8.

David Pollock, Wilmington

Trump runs scared

EDITOR: Instead of declassifying the House Intelligence Committee memo, President Trump would have better served his cause by claiming the information vindicated him but, in the interest of national security, he was not releasing it. That would have left us to our imaginations.

The memo does not vindicate Trump, nor does it smear the FBI. It states that former British spy Christopher Steele's dossier “formed an essential part” of the FBI’s justification for secret warrants. Steele's research was initially funded by a conservative group, and later obtained funding from the Clinton campaign. But Carter Page, figuring in Trump’s campaign, was already in the FBI crosshairs for his Russia connections before the warrant requests, as even the memo states. The FBI routinely runs down multiple sources; the Steele papers were just another source.

President Trump has been remarkably uninterested in Russia's interference in our elections. He has not enacted added sanctions against Russia that Congress approved. He has repeatedly called Special Counsel Bob Mueller's investigation a “witch hunt.” Trump is angry with his attorney general, Jeff Sessions, who recused himself in the Russia investigation, and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who refuses (so far, at least) to fire Mueller.

So if he can't end Mueller's investigation, Trump will do his best to discredit the conservative FBI. He is running scared. It seems our president has more to hide than just his tax returns.

Irma Forger, Leland

A job for women

EDITOR: With a blatant disregard for the truth, denigration of immigrants and multiple accusations of sexual abuse of women, President Trump has shown he is ethically and temperamentally unfit to lead. Yet he enjoys support of a conservative base that includes congressional sycophants and many evangelical Christians. I believe Trump was correct when he said “I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose any voters.”

My faith lies with women who have, among other things, courageously spoken out against a long history of unwanted sexual advances and the prevailing pay gap. I believe the more natural empathy of women is our hope for the future. I encourage women to march, put on our pink hats, assist in precinct work, and restore the moral high ground this nation once enjoyed.

Anne T. Bailey, Supply

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